Welcome to the PSD Grade 2 Common Core Curriculum Project

In the second grade, students become readers and writers, able to conduct simple research, write reports, and compare and contrast characters from stories. Now the “read-aloud” works are combined with books that students read for themselves, as they learn about seasons, the Wild West, the African American journey to freedom, and more. The arts are integrated into the units. In the unit “Building Bridges Around the World,” students learn about both literal and figurative bridges. Later, in “Hand-Me Down Tales from Around the World,” students listen to Prokoviev’s Peter and the Wolf as they consider why tales are handed down from one generation to the next. Students learn about the physical world as well; in the final unit they read about the human body and health. The variety of topics exposes students to rich literature while building background in a range of subjects and topics. Students begin to use graphic organizers to clarify their ideas and plan their writing. Their writing includes reports, literary responses, opinion pieces, stories, letters, and explanations. Throughout the year, students build grammatical knowledge and practice reading and speaking with fluency and expression. They engage in discussions about literature and make use of online resources. By the end of second grade, students should be able to read simple story books fluently and write in print and cursive. They should be familiar with a repertoire of myths, stories, poems, and nonfiction narratives.